Fireflies
by katimonius REX
Summary: James makes off with Lily in the middle of the night, attempting to give her but a taste of the enchantment that Hogwarts has to offer. One Shot. IT'S SO FLUFFY.


"_James, where are we going? You know we aren't supposed to be out of bed this late!"_

It wasn't new for James Potter to knick into the girls dormitory uninvited. Before he and Lily started dating – the 'Dark Times', he'd become prone to calling them – he had gone up on numerous occasions to visit his best friend and next door neighbor of 17 years Marlene McKinnon. Talk of an impossible feat, and James Potter will make it so. And with the Girls Dormitory stairs, he had done just that. Not that he had even needed much of an excuse. If anyone asked, all he needed were some puppy dog eyes and a bit of, "This IS a school of magic, isn't it Professor?" And before you could say 'Newt Scamander' he was off the hook.

And while this had become an even more frequent occurrence for sneaky little Jamie, especially since he and Lily had begun dating, it _was_ rather new for him to pop in at two forty in the morning.

He'd been quick and quiet about it, conscious to avoid disturbing her bunkmates, who included darling Marlene; she'd have killed him if he had made even one sound enough to wake her. Sp he'd tiptoed over to Lily's bed, covered her mouth to staunch the inevitable scream as he shook her awake, and ushered her out of her warm comforter. Then of course he'd needed to slip her into her shoes, hand her a coat, (which she took without realizing why) and pull her down the stairs. The stairs which became a slide as soon as James' foot touched the top step. Lily couldn't help the yelp of surprise that escaped her mouth as the ground slid from under her and her butt bounced off of cool metal. James chuckled, but didn't say anything as he led the way down the short drop and landed safely on carpet. Lily followed a second later, tumbling sloppily into his lap.

"Good morning sleepy head." James sang happily, a broad grin tugging at the corners of his lips. Seeing her like this was always his favorite. Her hair was a mess around her freckled face, her eyes sagged with sleepiness, and her nightgown was pulled every which way around her body. Lily Evans was disheveled and unorganized, and he couldn't get enough. Without warning he took her face in his hands and kissed her, running his thumbs softly over her eyes. He pulled away gently, gauging her reaction. She blinked hard first, as if she wasn't quite sure if what was happening was real or a dream, and then pulled her hands up to her eyes and rubbed them with the heels of her palms.

"James," was all she said. James was pleased to note that at first glance there was no anger, although he didn't dare test the waters.

"Yes, love?"

"What could you have _possibly_ needed to pull me out of bed for at this hour?"

She pushed herself off of James' lap and straightened her nightgown. No one could say that dating James Potter was easy, but it certainly wasn't dull. James followed suit, pulling a piece of parchment from his back pocket and grinning mischievously. Lily's eye's narrowed, and she opened her mouth immediately to protest whatever absurd plan he had concocted in that annoyingly genius little brain of his. But before she could get a word out he snatched up her hand again and pulled her along, down through the common room and out the portrait hole. They raced down the seventh floor corridor, his trainers the only sound echoing through the hall.

"James, where are we going? You know we aren't supposed to be out of bed this late!"

Lily puffed awkwardly along behind him, miserably attempting to relinquish his grip on her. They did eventually stop at the top of the first stairwell, and Lily finally pulled herself free, although that was only because James himself had loosened his grip.

"James Potter," She scolded, "You had better tell me what the point of all of this is."

Again he didn't answer; just grinned and opened up the parchment, pulling his wand from out of his jacket. Lily was rightfully perplexed; what he could possibly want with some blank parchment was beyond her. Rather than continue to question him and waste her own breath she stayed nervously by his side and slipped into her coat, occasionally glancing over her shoulders for anyone who might see them. She heard him muttering something behind her, and when she turned to interrogate him again he was lighting the tip of his wand and staring at the parchment intently.

James was flipping through the pages of the Marauders map like it was old news, checking each floor thoroughly. He was completely unaware of Lily coming up behind him, her jaw practically grazing the floor in awe. She was looking at the seventh floor. Their floor. And there - there they were. Lily and James, their little names floating at the top of the stairwell. He unfurled bits and pieces of the map expertly, and smirked in triumph as he pointed his wand at the closet sized room on the ground floor where Filch's name was sitting, still. Mrs. Norris was also inside, pacing back and forth very near to her master. Lily gasped, unable to contain herself.

James turned and looked at her, smiling a little at her amazement, and closed the map up right. A little more muttering, (which she _could_ make out this time; she was practically resting her head on his shoulder) and it was gone. It was all gone. The map was parchment once again. James handed it to her, smiling devilishly at her disbelief, and started down the stairs.

He couldn't help but call out behind him, his ego still not completely suppressed from their childhood, "Impressed yet?"

Lily opened the parchment tentatively, as though expecting something to jump out of it, but there was nothing. Nothing. On every page there was nothing. She stared down at it, then looked up, her eyes narrowing as they followed James down the stairs, and she jogged quickly down after him.

"Now wait just a minute!" She was used to magic; she had seen some incredible things in her time at Hogwarts, for sure. But that map was potentially the most incredible by far; and it was in the hands of her boyfriend, James Potter. She wanted to know how.

He was obnoxiously smug, that much was obvious. He had that stupid grin on his face he only wore when he _knew_ he was good. His hazel eyes gleamed with excitement in the light of the torches they passed, and his hand twitched with the desire to go through his already messy black hair. But _why_.

"James, where did you get this map?" Lily asked, lifting the map up. He barely glanced over at it, although he did look down to check her reaction. Clearly she was concerned, though for what reason he had no idea. She was proving exactly why they had chosen not to show the map to anyone. Some people were just too fussy.

So pushing her concerns aside James just shrugged his shoulders, walking down a few more steps. "Why do you ask?"

Lily made to follow him, frowning. "Because, James. In the wrong hands, this map could be used for...for any number of horrible things!"

He kept going, but she stopped several paces back. Before he was completely out of reach she grabbed the sleeve of his jacket and tugged, egging him back. He did stop, and with a sigh of irritation he eventually climbed the difference between them and crossed his arms.

"James, you know there's a war going on out there. I'm just saying you need to be careful, okay?"

He couldn't stay cross with her; or irritated, or huffy, or what have you. She was bit taller than he was, a couple of stairs up anyway, so he dropped his arms and smiled, leaning forward to kiss her softly. "I know. We keep it under lock and key; no one touches it without us knowing. Promise. It's perfectly safe."

Content with her interrogation and intervention, Lily smiled and looped her arm through his, and together they walked down the rest of the stairs to the first floor, and out onto the grounds. It was a cold, moist fall night. Dew clung to the grass and fog hung in the air, giving the grounds an eerie appearance that made Lily nudge closer to a perfectly contented James.

"_Now_ may I ask where we're going?" Lily begged, looking up at James desperately. He only grinned and shook his head, throwing an arm around her shoulders. "Nope! Don't worry; you'll see soon enough my dear, I assure you."

It wasn't the answer Lily wanted, but was clearly the only answer she was going to get out of him. With a sigh she rested her head on his shoulder the rest of the of the way – until he moved without warning and clamped his hands over her eyes and said, in a tone that was _far_ too cheery, "No peeking, now!"

Lily scowled.

"James, don't even. You know I don't like surprises. Besides, I _really_ want to be able to see what this is."

Without even concerning himself with her protests or her thrashing arms he continued forward slowly, taking it one step at a time. Lily was strong, admittedly, and she managed to put up a good fight, but she was nothing for him. Occasionally they would switch directions, and soon Lily had lost all sense of direction she thought she had. Just when she was about to start screaming, James stopped and whispered in her ear, "We're here."

He uncovered her eyes slowly, and she took several long seconds before she opened them, nervous about what she would find. When she finally had built up the courage to peek, she took two instinctive steps away from what she saw - The Forbidden Forest.

"Nope! No James Charlus Potter, we are not going in there under any circumstances. Merlin knows what kind of creatures are lurking around in the dark! I won't step one foot inside. And if you think I will, you are seriously mistaken."

James sighed and took both of her hands in his. "You won't find more than some centaurs, spiders, a few unicorns if you're lucky and _maybe_ some giants deeper in. The nastier things don't like to be bothered, so they usually hide from anyone who gets too close." His tone was light and factual, but she could still hear that smugness that made her narrow her eyes and slap him hard on the cheek.

She turned and ran back toward the castle, desperate to escape James' nasty scheme; and unfortunately she didn't get very far. She screamed when he wrapped one arm securely around her waist and put one hand over her mouth to stop her from alerting anyone, (although who, exactly, he didn't know) and pulled her back towards the forest. He dropped her on the ground just outside and pinned her, watching her squirm and squeal under his strong grip.

"Lil. Lil! Calm down! Just hear me out." She stopped writhing under him, but her look shot daggers. "We aren't going very far in at all, so you have nothing to worry about. And what we're going in for isn't dangerous in the slightest; if it was, I wouldn't have brought you."

Her look softened a hair, but she was no less skeptical.

"You're just going to have to trust me on this, okay? And if anything happens," She started again, forcing him to add quickly, "which it won't, I'll be here. You'll be in no danger whatsoever."

Lying on the grass, staring up at his pale face glowing in the moonlight, his glasses tipping off of the bridge of his nose, Lily couldn't find it in herself to say no. So she just nodded her head, waited for him to climb off of her, and took his hand when he offered it to her; and then didn't let go.

James took his wand back out and kept their hands clasped as they entered the forest, traveling for a long while before he made any indication that he knew where they were. They came through the trees to a rather curious clearing, where branches and roots littered the ground, but nothing else. It was completely empty. James grinned and sat down on the spot, patting the ground next to him for Lily to join him.

She looked at him curiously but did as he asked, pulling her nightgown over her knees and hugging them tightly. "Now what?" She asked, looking through the darkness for some sign of what James had brought her there for.

And for his turn, James just knocked her shoulder with his, his legs crossed indian style and said casually, "We wait."

They didn't wait particularly long; ten minutes, tops, which they spent casting about their eyes and chatting over light topics. When the first light appeared in the clearing, Lily thought it had been her imagination. And then another light sparked nearby. And another. And soon, the entire clearing was filled with little orange lights. She gaped at the sight and turned to James, who was staring at her eagerly.

"Are they fireflies?" She asked, squinting into the darkness to get a better look, completely fascinated. James shook his head.

"Fairies. They aren't actually glowing, oddly enough. They light a fire in their palms at night to keep them warm."

He was positively beaming, and she was completely stunned. They watched for awhile, content, until a little female flew over in front of James. She smiled, revealing a mouth full of _almost_ completely normal teeth, if not for her two tiny fangs. James put out a finger for her to rest on, hoping to impress with the personal 'Care of Magical Creatures' homework he had done. Instead, to James' infinite disappointment, the fairy devilishly scalded it with the small flame perched in its right palm, started into a bout of tinkling laughter, and floated away. James rolled his eyes and shook the pain from his finger with only a little irritation.

"Not very fond of me." He explained briefly, sticking his finger broodingly into his mouth.

Lily snorted and patted his shoulder affectionately, and then used it to help get herself up. She yawned and stretched, sleepy and pleasantly surprised, and all the more ready for the warmth of the castle.

"We should get to bed, James. I'm beat."

James nodded and got to his feet, clearly pleased with himself. He pulled her into him with a smirk, placing his arms around her waist, and grinned when she laced her fingers behind his neck.

"The verdict?" He asked, wiggling his eyebrows. He chuckled when she gave him a little tap on the shin with her foot, even though she was smiling, clearly satisfied with their midnight run.

"Well..." She put her head down and sighed, as though breaking some bad news, but smirked and looked into his eyes instead, unable to commit to the joke. "It really was incredible. Thank you."

He grinned and gave her a warm kiss, which she returned wholeheartedly and without even a second thought. They stayed there for what seemed like hours, latched together until the twinkling lights behind them died out, and were gone.

* * *

_Authors Note: Hey guys! I just wanted to say that I hope you enjoyed the L/J fluff, (who doesn't) and that you enjoyed the story as well. If you DID, I would be more than happy to write some more! And any review you have for the fic, good, bad or critical, I would be thrilled to hear. It really and truly makes my day ten times brighter! Much love!_


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